Porridge

TWO POEMS – Joshua Teo

Image: Mattia Serrani on Unsplash Joshua Teo is an undergraduate student of Modern History at the University of St Andrews. He writes for fun and hopes to write something beautiful one day. Ryū-ha The fish does not dream of water. It dreams of legs to walk the earth Or feathered wings to ride the skies; It dreams…

Meaning-making in Literature and Life: an Introduction to Existentialism – Elizabeth Ruth Deyro

Photo by Magda Ehlers from Pexels Elizabeth Ruth Deyro is a Filipina writer and editor with a BA in Communication Arts from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. She is the Founding Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director of The Brown Orient and the Fiction Editor of Rag Queen Periodical. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming from Moonchild…

TWO POEMS – Seán Kennedy

Seán Kennedy is a twenty-two-year-old writer living in Co. Kildare. Since finishing an MA in Irish Literature and Culture at Maynooth University last summer, he has turned to writing poetry in an effort to pass the time productively, or at least creatively. His poem “Brothers of Charity” appeared in online journal Dodging the Rain in March 2018….

ONE POEM – John Bartlett

Image: Ana Mendieta – Silueta de Cohetes (1976) John Bartlett lives on the southern coast of Australia and is the author of three novels, a collection of short stories and an e-book collection of his non-fiction. His poetry has been published in a number of online journals. He blogs regularly at: http://beyondtheestuary.com/ Plastic World It hardly matters there’s a…

PHOTOGRAPHY – Célia Schouteden

Célia Schouteden is a twenty-five year old artist based in Belgium. She’s currently studying at her hometown university, in Liège, to become a clinical psychologist. Since 2016, she has explored herself through analog photography which she’s using as a therapy to help herself with her borderline personality & cyclothymic disorders. She would love to help…

TWO POEMS – Jac Shortland

Jac Shortland is a Cork woman. Her poetry has been published in a diversity of journals and anthologies, including Antiphon, Into the Void, The Cannon’s Mouth, Silhouette Press, A New Ulster and Causeway Cabhsair. She has been long listed for North West Words Poetry 2016 and Over the Edge New Writer of the Year 2017…

THREE POEMS – Gráinne Daly

Image: Helen Frankenthaler – Brown Moons, 1961 Gráinne Daly holds an MA in Creative Writing from UCD. Shortlisted for the Gregory O’Donoghue Poetry Prize, Maeve Binchy UCD Award and winner of Greywood Arts Prize 2017, her work has been published in a number of publications, including Southword Magazine and Ogham Stone Journal. She has completed…

Cat people – Antonia Cundy

Antonia Cundy is an postgraduate student at the University of Cambridge, studying on an MPhil in American Literature. She has written (poetry and prose) for The Financial Times, The Economist, and The Oxonian Review, amongst others. Her work can be found at www.antoniacundy.com. Image: paul morris on Unsplash Cat People On 11th December 2017, The New Yorker published Kristen Roupenian’s short story, ‘Cat Person’,…

SHORT STORY – Anita Goveas

Anita Goveas is British-Asian, based in London, and is fueled by strong coffee and paneer jalfrezi. She was first published in the 2016 London Short Story Prize anthology, and most recently in former cactus, Litro, New Flash Fiction Review, Porridge, and Longleaf Review. She tweets erratically @coffeeandpaneer Image: James Pond on Unsplash Recursion Adhira watched the dog chase itself again….

ONE POEM – Ceinwen E. Cariad Haydon

Image: Mary Kessell – Still Life Under the Sea (1960) © The estate of Mary Kessell Ceinwen E. Cariad Haydon lives in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and writes short stories and poetry. She has been published in web magazines and print anthologies. These include Fiction on the Web, Literally Stories, Alliterati, Stepaway, Poets Speak (whilst they still can), Three Drops…

SHORT STORY – Meagan Masterman

Image: Dorothea Lange – Clausen Child and Mother c. 1930 via the MOMA Meagan Masterman is a writer from Maine, living in Massachusetts. Her work can be found in Funhouse Magazine, Unbroken Journal, and Maudlin House. She co-edits Reality Hands. Find her online, where she usually is @meaganmasterman Who you are, Alicia Callahan I’ve got a…

POETRY – Priyanka Sacheti

Priyanka Sacheti is a writer based in Bangalore, India. Priyanka previously lived in Sultanate of Oman, United Kingdom, and United States. She has been published in numerous publications with a special focus on art, gender, diaspora, and identity and is presently an editor at Mashallah News. Her literary work has appeared in Berfrois, The Lunchticket, and Jaggery Lit and two of her…

ONE POEM – Nora Selmani

Image: Dhimitër Vangjeli – The village of Prodan near the Greek border, birthplace of the photographer. Kolonja, Albania via albanianphotography.net Nora Selmani lives in London and works in academic publishing. She is also co-editor of Porridge, and a part-time witch interested in gender and diaspora. Her work has appeared in Peach Mag, O GOCE, OCCULUM, and Sea Foam amongst others. She…

FLASH FICTION – J.A. Pak

Image: elin o’Hara slavick. J.A. Pak’s writing has been published in a variety of publications, including 7×7, Unbroken Journal, Joyland, Queen Mob’s Teahouse, Luna Luna and Atticus Review. For more work, take a look here. Concentric In mid dream, mid journey, there’s a barrier we must cross, flat and vast like an ocean. We’re told the barrier is a monster….

Air transport, carbon emissions, and capitalism – Muntazir Jaffer

Image: Fighting for Air, Amazing Productions, 2018 Muntazir Jaffer is a boutique cosmetics designer with a focus on sustainability in personal care. After graduating with from the University of Birmingham with a MEng in Chemical Engineering, he was baffled by the minimal adoption of green technology across the UK and now rants continuously about sustainable…

SHORT STORY: LOBSTER TAILS – Georgia Tindale

Georgia Tindale is an assistant editor working in Amsterdam and co-editor of Porridge Magazine. Her primary interests include poetry, science writing, health and society, history, religion and postcolonial studies. Her poems have been published and are upcoming in Sunlight Press and Laurel Magazine. She tweets @tindale_georgia. Lobster Tails Polunsky Unit If you had to choose the last meal you…

TWO POEMS – Ian C Smith

Image: Charles Conder, Bronte, Queen’s Birthday (1888) Ian C Smith’s work has appeared in, Antipodes, Australian Book Review, Australian Poetry Journal, Critical Survey, Prole, The Stony Thursday Book, & Two-Thirds North. His seventh book is wonder sadness madness joy, Ginninderra (Port Adelaide). He writes in the Gippsland Lakes area of Victoria, and on Flinders Island,…

Edward Hopper and the Suspension of Loneliness in Time – Umang Kalra

Image: Edward Hopper – Room in New York (1932) via edwardhopper.net Umang Kalra’s work appears or is forthcoming in Glass: A Journal of Poetry, VAYAVYA, Moonchild Magazine, Vagabond City, and others. She is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in History from Trinity College, Dublin, and has previously been mentored in poetry by Doireann Ní Ghríofa. Edward…

ONE POEM – Kwan Ann Tan

Image: Nancy Spero – Lovers (1962) © Estate of Nancy Spero. DACS, London/VAGA, New York 2018 Kwan Ann Tan is a 19 year old Malaysian currently studying at Oxford University. Her work has been featured in places such as Hypertrophic Literary and Half Mystic, and she also serves as the Roots Fiction Editor at Rambutan Literary….

POETRY REVIEW: straya by Paul Summers – Malcolm St Hill

Malcolm St Hill lives in Newcastle, Australia and is a poet, reviewer and independent researcher focused on the literary memory of the Great War, particularly the work of Australian soldier-poets. This is a modified version of a review which appeared in Rochford Street Review in December 2017. straya by Paul Summers (Smokestack Books, 2017) The term…

PHOTOGRAPHY – Joseph Birdsey

Joseph Birdsey is a writer and photographer who lives and works in London. He studied English at Goldsmiths, University of London, graduating in 2012. His poems have been published in ‘Myths of the Near Future’ (NAWE Young Writers’ Hub), Porridge Magazine, and by The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network. He tweets as @flaregun.’ And looking back…

FLASH FICTION – Andy Cashmore

Image: Georgia O’Keeffe, Train at Night in the Desert (1916), © 2018 (The Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York) Andy Cashmore has had flash fiction published in numerous places, including the National Flash Fiction Day Anthology 2014 and The Harpoon Review. He participated in a writing project called Writing Begets Writing, where he…

ART- Sarah Jilani

Sarah Jilani is a British/Turkish freelance writer and PhD student in postcolonial literatures at The University of Cambridge. She has written on contemporary art, film and books for publications including The Economist, The Times Literary Supplement, ArtReview, and The Independent. A self-taught painter, she has exhibited in Istanbul (2014) and York (2011), and her artwork…

TWO POEMS – Jen Rouse

Image: Hannah Höch – Fashion Show (1925-35) (detail) Jen Rouse’s poems have appeared in Poetry, The Inflectionist Review, Midwestern Gothic, the CDC Poetry Project, Parentheses, Anti-Heroin Chic, Crab Fat Magazine, Up the Staircase, and elsewhere. She was named a finalist for the Mississippi Review 2018 Prize Issue and was the winner of the 2017 Gulf Stream Summer Contest Issue. Rouse’s…

ONE POEM – Ed Garvey-Long

Image: Jackson Pollock, Number 1, 1948 Ed Garvey-Long is a poet from North London who enjoys cross stitch and contemporary art. He tweets under the name @eddus.

PHOTOGRAPHY – Deborah Sibbald

Deborah Sibbald lives in London where she works as a social worker for the NHS. She studied photography at John Cass and writes poetry, some of which has begun to appear in various publications. These photographs are a few of many from several series of ” involuntary paintings” taken whilst walking in London.

SHORT STORY – Anita Goveas

Image: Louise Bourgeois, Lacs de Montagne (1997) Anita Goveas is British-Asian, based in London, and fueled by strong coffee and paneer jalfrezi. She lurks in libraries and her local independent bookshop, Bookseller Crow. She was first published in the 2016 London Short Story Prize anthology, most recently in Pocket Change, Haverthorn, Moonchild Magazine, Riggwelter Press, Anti-Heroin Chic, former cactus mag…

FIVE POEMS – Erin Taylor

Image: Ruth Asawa – Untitled, from ‘Flowers’ (1965) Erin Taylor is an American poet whose work has been featured at LAMBDA Literary, Cosmonauts Avenue, Scum Mag, and more. More of her work can be found at erintaylor.tumblr.com and she tweets at @erinisaway. Two of these poems were printed in Porridge’s first print issue available here. a love poem to…

ONE POEM – Joanna Lee

Image: Natalia Goncharova – Cats (rayist percep.[tion] in rose, black, and yellow) (1913) Joanna Lee is a recent English graduate adjusting to life in London. Her work has appeared in notes, daikon* and FLY. She currently works at Faber & Faber. Sonnet We drift unmoored through evenings & metaphors traverse layers of unexpected familiarity in the fading illuminations of narrative…

THREE POEMS – Joseph Birdsey

Image: Mamma Andersson, Dick Bengtsson 2015 (originally published 1983) Joseph Birdsey is a writer and photographer who lives and works in London. He studied English at Goldsmiths, University of London, graduating in 2012. His poems have been published in ‘Myths of the Near Future’ (NAWE Young Writers’ Hub) and by The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network….

ART – SEIGAR

SEIGAR is an English philologist, a high school teacher, and a curious photographer. He is a fetishist for reflections, saturated colours, details and religious icons. He feels passion for pop culture that shows in his work. He has participated in several exhibitions and his works have also been featured in international publications. SEIGAR’s artwork can…

Three datapoems – James Stone

James Stone founded www.poetryindata.com to explore science and technology through visual poetry. He likes data and poetry because they pack a lot of meaning into a small space. James’ poetry can also be found in our first print issue, which is available for purchase here. Mercury Rising The failure to tackle climate change is not a failure of science,…

SHORT STORY – Flying Solo: Jessica Bonder

Image: Painting by the LA-based artist, Kelly Reemtsen. Jessica Bonder is an American fiction writer. She has published short stories in The Stockholm Review, The Lonely Crowd, STORGY Magazine, Split Lip Magazine, Black Heart Magazine, The Writing Disorder, and The Cabinet of Heed, among others. Her website is jessicabonder.com and you can tweet her @jessbonder. Flying Solo A large man bearing a bouquet…

TWO POEMS – Anas Hassan

Image: Georgia O’Keeffe – Abstraction Blue (1927) Anas Hassan’s first collection, Bibi, Are You Living?, was published by Eyewear in 2017. His poems have appeared in magazines including Amaryllis; Ink, Sweat & Tears; Snakeskin; The Interpreter’s House and Under the Radar. He has performed at venues including Vortex Dalston (‘Words and Jazz’, EFG London…

ART – Kuukua Wilson

Kuukua Wilson is a Ghanaian-American Painter and Scientific Illustrator based in the United States and the Netherlands. Her creative works focus mainly on storytelling about the intricate complexities of life. She delves into topics ranging from cultural ideals, beauty, nature, and the human experience. She uses her works to share her understanding of life. More can…

ONE POEM – Katie Paterson

Image: Louise Bourgeois – Le Lit, Gros Édredon, Bleu (1997) Katie Paterson is currently an MA student at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. She’s also a writer and spoken word artist. Dressing Gown I’m putting on your dressing gown I will not ask you first it’s not our only intimacy but it speaks of something more than…

TWO POEMS – Sneha Subramanian Kanta

Image: Susan Rothernberg – Limbo (2009-10) Sneha Subramanian Kanta is a GREAT scholarship awardee, and has earned a second postgraduate degree in literature from England. Her work is forthcoming in In/Words Magazine, The Ofi Press, Bombus Press and elsewhere. She is the founding editor of Parentheses Journal, an international literary journal. Her chapbook Synecdoche is forthcoming with The…

To what extent has the welfare state changed since 1970? – Erinda Selmani

Image via Wikipedia Erinda Selmani is a first year student at LSE whose interests include social inequality and global development. She’s also a keen linguist with a passion for French. To what extent has the welfare state changed since 1970? This essay aims to explore the extent to which the welfare state has changed since…

The Illusion of Distance – Jack Crowe

Image: Richard Hamilton, Interior, 1965. Jack Crowe is a graduate with a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Birmingham. He performs as a poet across the UK, and otherwise writes in his far too voluminous spare time. His website is jackcrowejackcrowe.co.uk. The Illusion of Distance When Dennis Kimetto broke the marathon world record in Berlin in 2014, he set off from…

PHOTOGRAPHY: MEMORY – Lucy Jane Purrington

Lucy Jane Purrington graduated with a first honours degree in Photographic Arts from the University of South Wales and is known for her video, performative and photographic work. These photographs by Lucy also appear in the inaugural print issue of Porridge which is available for purchase here. Memory is fluid. Influenced by time, perspective and place. We are made of…

ICELANDIC PHOTOGRAPHY – Saman Izadyar

Saman Izadyar is a Psychology graduate from Cardiff University. He likes to think of himself as an amateur photographer and writer, with a huge passion for music and art (in particular video games). He formerly edited for Quench magazine and sporadically writes posts on his blog at www.MisanthropicPhilanthropy.com. These photographs by Saman also appear in the inaugural…

POETRY – Elden Morrow

Image: Joe Bradley, Untitled from 5 Lithographs, 2015 Elden Morrow is a recent graduate from the University of Birmingham – BA in English with Creative Writing – and is returning there to do an MA. He loves poetry and music that always appears to withhold something – lyrics that use understatement or humour to mask…

ONE POEM – Samantha Emily Evans

Samantha Emily Evans is an Anglo-American writer living and working in London. She is a member of the European Beat Studies Network and is always on the move. She works at SAGE Publishing as a marketing assistant. Her poems have been publishing in The Ogilvie, Inklight Creative Writing Journal, Moorpark College Review, and others. She blogs…